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Panoz LMP07
This Section is Dedicated to the Development and Conquests
of this Machine. Check Back Often to See What's NEW!
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03 FEB 2001
ALMS News: Can Panoz Match Audi at Texas?
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In a thrilling 20 minute qualifying session this afternoon Jan Magnussen in the new Panoz LMP 07 traded places with the two Audis throughout before finally ceding pole position to them in the final minute.
Having had a somewhat troubled development period over the last few months, the performance of the car today gave the whole team a much needed lift and the team’s competitors a glimpse of its true potential. Jan and his team-mate David Brabham will start the race tomorrow from 3rd position on the grid.
Factory team-mates in car #51, Klaus Graf and Gualter Salles will line up alongside them after Klaus set a best time this afternoon of 1m 17.926 in last year’s Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S. Despite a track that was not completely dry, Klaus improved each lap he was out on the track.
After a morning of heavy rain, it was with some relief that the third Panoz Motor Sports entry, car # 49 driven by Westward Racing Group’s Jay Cochran and Richard Dean, took to the track in the dry qualifying session. The duo faced a steep learning curve this weekend, learning a new track after little track time in the car. Cochran, who qualified the car, put in some steady laps to set a time of 1m 21.852 to take 6th position.
Jan Magnussen:
“I tried really hard – I wanted to give the guys on the team a good result as they’ve all worked so hard over the last few months to get the car where it is now. We had a good car today and Michelin gave us some good tires, but when we
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came into the pits to make a small change, we lost too much time and I didn’t have enough laps before the checkered flag to get the heat back into the tires and try for another time. It was really close and exciting for everyone but 3rd is still 3rd!”
Klaus Graf:
“I was fighting for the second row for much of the time with the Champion Audi and it’s good for the team to have both cars on the second row. The rear of our car was a bit unsettled this afternoon but otherwise everything was not too bad.”
Jay Cochran:
“We decided to take a very conservative line today, especially in the damp conditions. I didn’t want to do anything stupid and wreck our chances for tomorrow. I’m not too unhappy considering how little time we’ve had in the car but obviously feel that as the season progresses we will be much more of a challenge to our competitors.”
Provisional Qualifying Results:
1 2 Biela/Pirro Audi R8 1m 15.887 2 1 Capello/Kristensen Audi R8 1m 16.350 3 50 Magnussen/Brabham Panoz LMP 07 1m 16.634 4 51 Graf/Salles Panoz LMP-1 1m 17.222 5 38 Schroeder/Wallace Champion Audi R8 1m 18.389 6 49 Cochran/Dean Panoz LMP-1 1m 21.852 7 3 (GTS) Fellows/O’Connell Corvette C5-R 1m 23.963 8 4 (GTS) Pilgrim/Collins Corvette C5-R 1m 24.106 9 23 (GT) Luhr/Maassen Porsche 911 GT3 1m 25.653 10 22 (GT) Pobst Menzel Porsche 911 GT3 1m 26.259
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12 FEB 2001
ALMS News: Panoz Testing at Texas
PANOZ MOTORSPORTS RELEASE:
With just three weeks to go until the American Le Mans Series season opener at Texas Motor Speedway, the Panoz Motor Sports team has been hard at work testing its new Panoz LMP 07 cars.
This last weekend, drivers David Brabham, Jan Magnussen and Klaus Graf, all of whom have been confirmed for the 2001 season, were on hand at the team's home track of Road Atlanta to work through an extensive testing program.
The concentration of efforts at this test were mainly directed towards aerodynamics, improving overall reliability (bearing
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in mind that the team will be championing a new car, new engine and new gearbox) and a new automated gearshift system. The latter, which sees Formula One type 'paddles' fitted to the steering wheel instead of the traditional gear lever, gave the engineers a few teething problems in the software department but these were ironed out by the end of the weekend.
All three drivers took the wheel over the weekend and a total of 165 laps were completed. Chief Race Engineer Chris Gorne declared himself satisfied with the test and the advancements made and that, with more modifications to come for the coming weekend's ALMS Spring Training at Road Atlanta, the mood of all at Panoz was very positive.
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01 JAN 2001
Panoz LMP07 Croaks Early at Adelaide!
Oh, Boy...
Adelaide was supposed to be a pre-Sebring test for Don's new baby. However, the wild new 2001 Panoz suffered a suicidal alternator failure just a few minutes into the race.
The future of Panoz is here, but such is to be expected from an unproven car.
Hopefully, this isn't a prelude to yet another disappointing Sebring performance. Panoz failed to finish the 2000 Sebring, with both cars retiring after numerous problems.
Come On, Panoz! The Americans really want a successful Georgia - Grown Racer!
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 Photo courtesy of: Panoz Motorsports
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07 DEC 2000
Panoz LMP07 Test Cut Short!
NEW Sportscars always run into problems! Panoz's latest baby is no exception. What makes us mad is that we were "around the corner", on Vacation in Orlando during the test. We would have snuck by to see it ourselves if we had only known.
PANOZ MOTORSPORTS RELEASE: (excerpt)
"As with all new cars, there have been some teething problems on the technical front, but the drivers have raved about it. Magnussen said after his first 20 laps in it, "It's very nice - I mean, REALLY nice! It feels much more like a single seater to drive than the previous LMP. The new engine feels good too although it's still early in the program and we have a lot of work to get through before we really know the car well."
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 Photo courtesy of: Panoz Motorsports
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26 NOV 2000
PANOZ PHOTO COMPARO: OLD -VS- NEW
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 Photo courtesy of: Panoz Motorsports
YEAR 2001 PANOZ LM/P ROADSTER - How's this for an improvement? New V8 allowed for this dramatic redesign.
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 Photo courtesy of: Panoz Motorsports
YEAR 2000 PANOZ LM/P ROADSTER - Obviously dated, but lately Panoz has been some what faster than Audi!
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 Photo courtesy of: Panoz Motorsports
YEAR 2001 PANOZ LM/P ROADSTER - Note the high vertical fins traversing the cockpit. Driver safety is paramount!
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 Photo courtesy of: Panoz Motorsports
YEAR 2000 PANOZ LM/P ROADSTER - The old car appears to have a taller center of gravity than the new roadster.
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26 NOV 2000
THE RED ROCKET IS REBORN!!!
OH YEAH!! The New Georgia Bulldog finally hit the pavement just a few days ago at Silverstone. Interestingly, the new Panoz has "shed" the old 6.0litre Pushrod V8 in favor of a newly developed and much more compact Zytec 4.0litre DOHC V8.
The resultant space and weight savings has allowed the design team to re-think the front end. Even though the visual
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cues have been retained, the new Panoz appears to be significantly lower, more aerodynamic and perhaps even meaner- looking than ever.
The New Panoz may debut "DOWN-UNDER" on New Year's Eve in Adelaide, the last race of the 2000 season for the American Le Mans Series.
Hope it doesn't break...
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